Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Chang Luo trembled all over, hugging Wang An and crying, whispering while crying, "Mr. Guo is a good man—" He repeated this sentence over and over again, so many times that he lost his breath several times and had to be patted for a while to breathe, but he refused to stop. Wang An had no choice but to comfort and coax him non-stop. Chang Luo cried endlessly, so he had no choice but to spend it with him. As for Chang Luo's thoughts, he understood very well—Chang Luo was not good at words, but also had abnormal emotions, so he kept saying the same sentence over and over again—in fact, Chang Luo was worried for Guo Zhengyu, and wanted to To save Guo Zhengyu, I am even more afraid that Guo Zhengyu will be executed——

He desperately wanted to suggest to Chang Luo: "Go and beg Long Live God—" However, he knew better: Chang Luo had always been timid, how could he have the courage to plead with Emperor Wanli? What's more, Chang Luo was so emotional that he couldn't even speak clearly, and it would be a bad thing to go to Emperor Wanli. Thinking of this, he involuntarily sighed deeply. He was really at a loss—he was also worried about Guo Zhengyu, because he had served Chang Luo for many years, and he also often got along with Guo Zhengyu, and he knew him better, and his emotion became deeper: "He is really an upright and decent person, and he speaks well—— ——Nevertheless Chaoli is always a villain in power, and there is no room for good people!"

He clearly remembers one thing: At that time, Chang Luo was not allowed to be registered, and he went out to give lectures as the "Emperor's eldest son". All the supplies were poor, it was cold, there was no brazier, and Chang Luo didn't have enough warm clothes, so he was shivering from the cold. Thanks to Guo Zhengyu's loud shouting, The squadron took a brazier for Chang Luo to keep out the cold—— Thinking of this incident, even he himself couldn't help but shed tears: "Mr. Guo defended His Highness in many ways at that time—" Choking with sobs, he said to Chang Luo: "This servant remembers everything clearly!"

On the contrary, crying like this brought out his own courage; he straightened his back and said to Chang Luo: "Let me think about it, what can I do to save Mr. Guo!" This sentence made Chang Luo stop crying after hearing it, and said in another way: "Ah, what can I do? Think about it quickly—" Wang An thought about it for a long time, exhausted his thoughts, and finally said to Chang Luo word by word: "Mr. Guo is locked up in Dongchang at this moment——I think, only His Highness will personally explain to Dongchang. Only then did Mr. Guo be saved!" Chang Luo was taken aback for a moment, but then asked, "What do you want to say to Dongchang?"

Wang An said seriously: "Your Highness is the crown prince, the future emperor—whatever you say, they have to buy it!" Then he explained: "Chen Ju from Dongchang is also quite upright—after listening to His Highness, he will definitely do his best!" Chang Luo timidly asked: "Would he be willing to let Mr. Guo go?" Wang Anding took a look at him, sighed and said: "At least he will try his best—Mr. Guo always does his best and obeys the fate of God; " Then he thought of Chang Luo's timid personality, and said as if he was going all out: "Well, His Highness doesn't have to go in person, just a servant to deliver a message for His Highness!"

Chang Luo nodded, and after a while he said, "Just tell Chen Ju that if Mr. Guo is spared, it's equivalent to forgiving me!" When Wang An passed the words to the news, Chen Ju was stunned for a long time and said nothing, then he showed a wry smile: "If I kill Mr. Guo, I'm afraid that once the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, my The head is about to fall!" Then he shook his head and said: "If you let Mr. Guo go, at this moment, Mr. Shen Ge will seek my bad luck!" Spreading his hands together: "Look, how difficult it is to be a human being!"

On the surface, he still had a half-joking look on his face, but Wang An understood that what he said was the truth. Not only were these words not a joke, but he only expressed part of the embarrassment—— Therefore, Wang An couldn't help but sigh deeply. However, Chen Ju was a sincere person, so he simply patted him on the shoulder, and said to him very sincerely: "You can reply to Your Highness for me, saying that Chen Ju is panicked, and will do his best!" Wang An was relieved after saying such a "official talk", and then he let out a long breath and said, "To be honest, fortunately Shen Ge misunderstood the person—he ordered to arrest him and torture him severely." People who tortured and asked for a confession to falsely accuse Mr. Guo are hard-headed, and would rather die than say any slanderous words!"

Already lost several lives in vain—— Chen Ju listed in a low voice: "Zhou Jiaqing and Yuan Kun, who were captured in Jinyiwei, have already been executed; there is also a Daguan monk, a doctor named Shen Lingyu, and a fellow countryman named Hu Hua of Mr. Master Mao Shangwen discussed it and asked him to report on Mr. Guo—fortunately, these people refused, otherwise, even I would not be able to do anything!" Wang An was covered in cold sweat when he heard this, and it took a while before he said in a dull voice, "Why is this—you're planning to commit crimes!" Chen Ju smiled wryly and said, "Who made that damn demon book, and it's still not found out—Mr. Guo should be unlucky too, he has already returned home, and someone tricked him! I know He was wronged, so we had to arrest him and put him in Dongchang Prison. What can we do? Now, unless the real culprit is caught and sent to Lord Long Live, we can release Mr. Guo and everyone else , otherwise I have no choice but to spend it; but, in the East Factory, it’s okay, at least I can take care of Mr. Guo, and don’t let the crown prince chop off my head!"

Wang An was still worried, and asked: "The real murderer—is there a clue? Can we catch it?" Chen Ju laughed and said: "Clues? There are hundreds of reports every day! However, most of them are used to frame - ha, don't read a small demon book, you can't write a hundred words, The effect is great; those who want to kill others and those who want to take revenge are all involved; anyway, now as long as one person is bitten and related to the demon book, it is enough to deal with it. To tell you the truth, my brothers there have gained three points of weight—if we talk about the real 'true culprit', of course they didn't!"

He even told Wang An without any concealment: "How can I find the 'true culprit' in this kind of case? Over the years, I have handled many cases, and I have been involved in so many cases like this, most of them are nothing! If you really can't get along, and the superiors are unwilling to let it go, then get a lesser-involved hapless ghost, use him for a job, and it's over!" Wang An didn't say any more. When he returned to the Ciqing Palace, he said to himself silently: "There are so many unreasonable things in the world-but as long as I protect Mr. Guo, I will be worthy of His Highness. How can there be such a thing?" How much energy do you need to take care of others?"

However, just like this, the days dragged on day by day, the "Demon Book" case was never settled, and the atmosphere in the court was of course getting worse day by day; although Guo Zhengyu was not tortured excessively in the Dongchang prison, he was able to save his life Wuyu, but he couldn't be released from prison; although many people understood, they could only do nothing; Shen Li had already made up his mind to resign from office. He understands better than anyone else: "Boren is for me—Zhengyu is really suffering because of me!" Of course, he also tried his best to rescue Guo Zhengyu, and thought clearly: "As soon as Zhengyu is released from prison, I will resign and return to my hometown—political affairs are no longer possible, it is better to go back!" On the one hand, he also blamed himself deeply: "In July, when the court pushed me to join the cabinet, I insisted on resigning - it was only against the sacred will; It is my fault—oh! It is always my fault!" He is seventy-one years old, and he has no nostalgia for his official career. "The only thing I can't let go of is Zheng Yu, we have to wait for him to be released from prison—" He knew very well that Guo Zhengyu had already resigned from office, and after going through this accident, he had no intention of becoming an official. The two happened to go back to the forest together. The decision was firmly made, and the Ming Dynasty lost two more decent officials because of this—but Emperor Wanli didn't realize this at all. Although he was upset about the demon book, what made him most unhappy was another special thought in his heart: "People from outside always come to ask about my housework—" For many years, the problems between the middle palace and the prince have always been entangled, and the constant chatter made him tired. He thought bitterly: "I have already installed the crown prince according to their wishes, but there will be another incident - it is really unreasonable!" And every time he thought of this level, he would send people to Dongchang to exert pressure and order to solve the case as soon as possible, but at the same time, he inevitably thought of Concubine Zheng. There were several times when he had the idea of ​​summoning Concubine Zheng, but he gave up the idea after pondering for a few moments; however, he never thought of summoning Chang Luo to speak; it seemed that the demon book case had already been handed over to the factory guard. After the investigation was completed, the turmoil outside had subsided, and he no longer needed to put on a loving face to comfort Chang Luo—however, no one knew what was going on in his heart. He neither wanted to Xuanzheng Guifei nor summoned Chang Luo, so he didn't even have anyone to talk to; however, he lay lazily alone as if he didn't want to talk at all; He enjoys his own loneliness and unhappiness, but does not intend to improve—life shrinks bit by bit, and he doesn't seem to care. However, Concubine Zheng, whom he had not seen for many days, did not think so; she not only cared, but cared very much. What she has in mind is another kind of network—— When Zheng Guotai came to her and proposed to republish and spread "The Picture of Boudoirs", she didn't think that it would cause a storm after it was done. Because, the same incident happened as early as the twenty-sixth year of Wanli—and these were not important to her at all. What matters is Emperor Wanli's attitude towards her. In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, the "Sacred Family" was in full swing, and when the article "Concerning Concerns and Discussions" written by the name Zhu Dongji caused a storm, the attitude of Emperor Wanli in dealing with the matter was obviously biased towards her. At that time, Emperor Wanli ordered people to find out the real author of the article with a quick way of cutting through the mess with a sharp knife; A letter was handed over to the cabinet: "This "Beautiful Fan Tushuo" is what I gave to the imperial concubine to read, because I saw that the book is roughly similar to the purpose of "The Female Supervisor", so I will read it day and night—" He took all the origins of the matter on his own head, and said that the book was given by him-in this way, who in the government and the opposition would dare to speak more openly?Even whispers have been reduced by eight or nine out of ten. Of course she burst into laughter. Emperor Wanli's attitude directly expressed his deep affection for her, and she was satisfied—— The past is as vivid as yesterday, but it is also used to confirm the present—— This time, her intention was mostly to test Emperor Wanli's mind. So affectionate in the past, but now? Therefore, knowing that it would cause a disturbance, she still accepted Zheng Guotai's suggestion and started another disturbance. She has no way to directly feel Emperor Wanli's heart, and can only test it out through external incidents - she is almost naively thinking: "If he still has affection, this time, he will definitely cover up and cover everything for me. !" Celi Changxun's hope of becoming the crown prince has come to nothing, but she still has other opportunities - the queen is ill every day, and as soon as she dies, the queen's throne will be vacant. "As long as he still has heart and affection, I'll wait for this day——in this life, I'll have to spend that sick ghost!" She has clearly introspected that she has no love in her heart, and the only thing she has is unwillingness - therefore, Emperor Wanli's feelings for her are even more important than when she had love. This time the test was even more desperate. However, she is willing to take a risk, to take a gamble—even if she loses, she will be smashed to pieces. The strong side of her personality and her reluctance combine to form an irresistible force, which makes her bravely rush to the tip of her own destiny to fight. Even, she gritted her teeth angrily and thought: "If he has no affection for me, let him punish me——I would rather die because of this case than spend my whole life wronged and wronged like this." In the cold palace!" So, she went forward even more courageously—— However, Emperor Wanli's handling method was not as polarized as she thought. On the one hand, he still vigorously defended her as before, ordered strict investigation and punishment, blamed the author of the demon book, and punished those who slandered her. However, he did not simply say clearly like last time that the "Girlfriend Picture" was bestowed by him. She also heard that Emperor Wanli personally summoned Crown Prince Chang Luo to give a speech—— But after waiting for many days, Emperor Wanli never summoned her to meet him, and even sent someone to Chengqian Palace to say a word! After reaching such a conclusion, her heart became more and more mixed, and she couldn't judge Emperor Wanli's intentions. "Is this considered a loss or a win?" From time to time, she muttered to herself and made helpless inquiries; she was a person who would never admit defeat, but she couldn't believe that this time the test was her own victory—— Things are always ambiguous and unclear. Even with such a method of causing a big disturbance, she couldn't find out the thoughts in his heart, and couldn't find the answer she wanted—one night, when she was falling asleep, she dreamed that she puffed out her chest and stretched her legs. He walked up to Emperor Wanli like a warrior, and asked him loudly: "If the queen is dead, will you make me a queen?" Then, when she woke up, she couldn't help but cry secretly in bed. Of course, the words in the dream cannot be said in the daytime, not to mention, she no longer dared to imagine Emperor Wanli's answer. How would he answer?Or is it the same as this time, confused? There is no answer——From this point of view, the test I launched should be attributed to failure. Thinking about it this way, she became more and more sad, and cried more and more; but, the reasons for her sorrow and crying were all her own gains and losses, and she never thought that this time, the test she conducted on Emperor Wanli made the whole country of the Ming Dynasty It is the real thing to cry when you have suffered a major injury that cannot be estimated.